I don’t know where I am, I don’t remember how I got here and I don’t even remember what my name is. I remember a bit, though. Things like the fact that I can use magic, how to breathe and all of that. The thing I knew with absolute certainty, though, is that I felt weak with hunger. I want to know where I am, so the best place to start would be opening my eyes and looking.

Everything is tinted green, but that must be because I’m in some sort of enclosed space. I realize that I’m submerged in a strange liquid, though I can still breathe somehow. A word comes to mind, and I find that it scares me a little bit. I don’t know why, though. Changeling isn’t exactly a scary word.

But wait… I think I remember Changelings being a race of creatures. I thought as hard as I could and my mind cleared a tiny bit. Changelings are humanoid/insectoid hybrids that fed off of the energy contained in love. When weak or starved they had a chitin carapace and little to no independence. When fed adequately they are little different from humans, besides some behavioral patterns and small features.

I wonder why that thought came to me as if I was observing them, yet I don’t need a description for humans? Was I human? that’s what I thought, at least.

I was startled by the sound of a crack. It wasn’t really like glass cracking, or even cracking but that’s the best I could describe it. Imagine the sound of an organic shell splitting open. The noise isn’t what startled me, it was the fact that the noise was coupled with me falling out of the strange pod.

Luckily the impact was soft, or rather it felt soft. It would appear that I have a lavender hued carapace. So I’m a Changeling, then, and not a human. Strange. I heard the light clicks of carapace quickly striking stone and, when I looked up, I saw a brief glimpse of movement. I stood up and looked at myself, though I nearly stumbled over. The liquid solution I was in was absorbed into the hard organic material that made up most of the floor, though near a large archway there was stone.

There was nothing covering my carapace, though it seemed as if parts of the chitin armor could shift or even be removed. While I was thinking about that, a series of strange feelings coupled with the carapace shifting in places startled me. An angled chitin mask slid over the top half of my face, though for some reason I could see through it. The fact that the light dimmed told me that it was one-way. Even with that, though, nothing seemed too dark.

It seemed that there were many fleshy parts of my body, like my chest and navel and thighs and such, where it seemed like ridged muscles were exposed. Many of these were now covered by smooth chitin plating, leaving only my abdomen still exposed. I looked down at my hand, which I had brought up, and examined my pointed fingers. I don’t know why, but all of this was strange. If I was a changeling, how come this felt so… wrong?

My thoughts were cut short as a Changeling entered. Something in the back of her mind told her that this was her queen and her name was Chrysalis.

“Good evening, Twilight Sparkle. Are you well?” She asked. So that was my name?

“I am, my queen. I feel physically fine, but my memories are scattered and few. You know who I am, can you tell me more?” I asked. Chrysalis smiled and walked up to me. She ran a hand over the chitin mask and then the plating over my chest.

“I see you can utilize your battle plating, I’m impressed. There is a lot that I know, Twilight Sparkle, but words are not the way I can convey them.What I can tell you with words, though, I am going to have to ask you to believe.” She explained.

“I see. You are my Queen, so I will have to believe your words. How can you convey something without words, though?” I asked. I felt like I should know this, but for some reason I couldn’t think of anything.

“My hive mind will show you what you have lost, but showing you everything at once will overload your mind and your emotions. I will need to show you small bits at a time in order to allow your mind to remember on its own. In order for me to do this, though, you must become one with the brood. You were just born, or rather reborn but that is for another day. I will show you what it is to be a changeling, and with that knowledge you will regain yourself. Hopefully, at least.” Chrysalis continued to explain.

Reborn? Interesting, but if it is for another day then I anxiously await that day.

“What now, then?” I asked. It was the thing I was thinking the most. Chrysalis smiled and gestured for me to follow her. I fell into step with her as she began walking through the small tunnel made of a mixture of the organic material and stone. She spoke as we walked, and I listened.

“For now, you are my student. You have yet to completely take your independance, yet you have yet to assimilate you identity into the swarm to become part of the hive mind. When I entered, even though you don’t remember even seeing me you knew exactly who I was, correct?” She asked me.

“I knew that you were my Queen and your identity, yes.” I replied.Come to think of it, though kind of off subject, I have a feeling that my behavior is a bit… robotic. I don’t know for sure, I have a lot of strange feelings for some reason.

“That is your connection to my hive mind. Unfortunately, it hasn’t developed yet. I’m surprised it is as far along as it is, but then again you are using your battle plating. If you can figure it out, though, try to retract it. It’s threatening to your brothers and sisters of the swarm with how advanced it is. Also, it’s rude to hide your figure, especially one as beautiful as yours. Many are not so lucky, be proud of yourself.” Chrysalis explained. I concentrated and focused on how to retract the armor. Within moments it all slid back.

I admit I was struck with awe as I saw the massive chamber we stopped at the edge of. There were large towering spires of the black and green organic material, structures even. The chamber was in fact shaped like a hive with dozens and dozens of layers, each ‘ring’ holding a great many arches and doorways and walkways leading to who knows where. Buzzing about in a very faint hum were creatures similar to her. She could easily distinguish the males from females, though a few of them had no features to distinguish it from. Some of them looked as if there was skinn over their muscles, while others had holes bored into their carapaces.

“These are your ilk, Twilight Sparkle, your brothers and sisters of the swarm.” Chrysalis said before lifting off of the ground on her gossamer wings. I quickly followed, my wings taking me without a thought. I noticed something though, while most of the Changelings had hair and some distinguishing features, they all had a black colored carapace. Mine was the only one that was different. Chrysalis seemed to know my question, though. Perhaps it was part of that hive mind.

“You are a very unique Changeling, Twilight. Do not dwell on it, you will receive your answers as time sees fit. You will not be treated like a Drone, but at the same time you will be treated as any other Changeling.” Chrysalis said. That answer satisfied me, so I followed silently as we entered a rather empty upper chamber. It was a room with a surprisingly comfy looking bed, seemingly made of stone and some sort of bedding I couldn't identify, and other things that normally filled a bedroom. The hole they flew into sealed up, like a door.

“This is my chamber, but you will be living here as well. As you learn more about what you are and about yourself in general you will be able to decide more for yourself. Unfortunately, though, we must first work on your assimilation into the swarm before your independence. The question I plan to answer for you as soon as I can is, ‘What does it mean to be a Changeling?’. It is a question every Changeling has to answer before they can properly assimilate.” She explained. She sat down on the bed and looked me over.

“How do I do that?” I asked. She gained a mischievous grin pointed to a tall mirror. I saw myself in full, then.

“You need to make that look like me.” She said simply. So, I was going to learn how to change… Interesting.

Author's Notes:

Alright, so the first part flowed very well with the first person perspective, but as it goes I'm starting to feel that this is not a very first person story- or at least I'm still not very good at making it so. What I think I'll do is have short little first person intermissions and chalk them up to her published book which was mentioned in the prologue.
I'll try and explain the transition from first to third adequately in the next chapter, but for now I hope the second half of this one isn't too iffy. I always have trouble writing third person when it comes to explaining things.
anyways, what do you guys think? If you're going to comment try to give it a base, and please if you don't like something only due to personal preference don't mention it. If you're going to criticize at least do it properly, please and thank you, Guten Abend Meine Fruende